Chapter 698: Making Superhumans Go Into Debt

To take Xi City as quickly as possible, to advance the Return to the City Plan, and to promote the Silent Gold Coin.

For all these reasons, Elder Hou Junji decided to take a bolder step forward.

Hou Junji decided to lend Chen Ye eight thousand gold coins so he could exchange for that Wonder's Heart.

Moreover, in Hou Junji's view, Chen Ye was a fairly trustworthy person.

For example, just a few days ago, Chen Ye had fully repaid his previous loan according to the agreed-upon interest.

Several successful lending relationships had made Hou Junji's opinion of this one-eyed guy Chen Ye improve considerably.

They had also given Chen Ye a credit record on file with the Silent Council.

Hou Junji even personally believed that Chen Ye could be considered a trustworthy, good young man.

After all, the Silent Council had been working hard to promote the Silent Gold Coin these days.

Although they hadn't lent out much, there had already been cases of bad debt.

Some loans were given out and then could never be collected again.

Some borrowers had died during the sea anomalies coming ashore earlier.

And some simply had no ability to repay at all.

Chen Ye and Chu Che were the two most proactive repayers in the entire loan program.

Moreover, based on assessment, whether it was the two men's credit records or the overall strength evaluation of the Fair Convoy.

These two were definitely premium clients.

Therefore, using Chen Ye to break through the current stalemate was the most fitting choice.

As long as Chen Ye used the Silent Council's gold coins to boost his combat power, the entire base would surely learn about it.

Then other people would definitely come to the Silent Council to borrow money.

As long as enough people borrowed, and enough people were in debt.

Then... there wouldn't be so many people lying flat and taking days off like today.

At that point, the Silent Council's influence here at the base would also carry more weight.

Everyone would have to grind it out in order to repay their debts.

Yeah, grind it out!

Then whatever the Silent Council wanted to do would naturally become much easier.

And most importantly...

They could put everyone in debt.

Put everyone in debt. To repay their debts, the superhumans would have to continuously bring value and benefits to the Silent Council.

This was the apocalypse already. Nobody was buying houses, and nobody was buying cars.

So how could everyone be put into debt?

Boosting their strength was the one real necessity. They had to start from this angle.

Chen Ye and Chu Che were an important part of the plan Hou Junji had come up with.

Of course, Hou Junji wasn't that stupid.

Although Chen Ye and Chu Che currently looked like they had a relatively high chance of repaying.

It was still only relatively high.

Why did Hou Junji insist on lending to these two specifically?

Wasn't he afraid that if the money really couldn't be collected in the end, the Silent Council headquarters would come after him?

Actually, Hou Junji had already found himself a protective charm.

Even if this sum ultimately couldn't be recovered, he could still be exempt from liability.

The key lay in four words: "compliant procedures!"

As long as the procedures were compliant, even if it turned out to be bad debt, if he was held accountable later, Elder Hou Junji wouldn't have to bear much responsibility.

Chen Ye and Chu Che, whether in terms of personal strength, their credit standing with the Silent Council, or the current situation the Silent Council was facing.

They were both target candidates that fit "compliant procedures."

So this loan, Elder Hou had made up his mind to approve it.

...

When Chen Ye saw Elder Hou Junji arriving at the Fair Convoy's camp.

He and Captain Chu Che exchanged a glance.

The two troublemakers had already guessed in their hearts why Hou Junji had come looking for them.

The whole base was swamped with work right now, everyone was busy to death.

For him to find time to come here under such critical circumstances was no small feat.

Chu Che couldn't help but break into a smile and hurriedly walked over to greet him.

"Elder Hou, you're such a busy man, how do you find the time to visit our little corner?"

The two exchanged a warm round of pleasantries.

If anyone didn't know better, they'd think Captain Chu Che and Hou Junji were long-lost brothers.

Of course, the scene was a bit strange.

For instance, Chu Che would be speaking to Hou Junji, but the one who always answered was the bird perched on Elder Hou's shoulder.

After the two finished their pleasantries, they found a quiet spot to discuss business.

And they called Chen Ye over as well.

When Hou Junji mentioned that he could lend Chen Ye eight thousand gold coins.

Chen Ye was slightly taken aback.

In his estimation, this loan wouldn't come until at least a month or two later, or even after Xi City was cleared and they'd returned there.

He hadn't expected it so soon...

After thinking briefly about the current situation at the base, Chen Ye roughly understood.

This loan was very necessary.

After all, some convoys were even planning to leave this place.

Using some benefits to win over the convoys was the most important thing.

"Mr. Chen, this time is a special situation, so I'll make the decision myself. I'll offer Mr. Chen a credit limit of eight thousand, and after one month, calculated at an interest rate of 23.99%..."

"With interest that high, why don't you just go rob someone?"

Chen Ye flew into a rage, acting like a complete fool with no brains.

Hou Junji was stunned. Everything had been going fine just now, so what was wrong with this guy? Why was he so furious the very next second?

Did this guy have some kind of problem?

Chu Che quickly grabbed Chen Ye: "Yezi, don't be hasty. They make wild demands, we make lowball offers. Since Elder Hou was willing to come talk to us in person, there's definitely some wiggle room. Don't rush!"

Right!

These two were putting on a show again.

One playing bad cop, one playing good cop.

Except this time, the one playing the fool was Chen Ye again.

Chen Ye was exasperated inside, but he had no choice but to play along.

During the negotiation, one played bad cop, responsible for testing the other side's bottom line.

The other played good cop, responsible for finding the possible middle ground.

Although the routine was old, it worked really well.

The two sides eventually engaged in a fierce clash.

Two hours later, Elder Hou Junji gritted his teeth and stomped his foot.

In the end, he decided to give Chen Ye and Chu Che a credit limit of ten thousand gold coins each.

After three months, they'd repay twelve thousand.

In the end, the two pressed their fingerprints onto the loan contracts and signed their names.

The contracts were the ordinary, standard type.

Actually, the Silent Council would have loved to get their hands on Contract Sequence contracts.

But for one thing, Contract Sequence superhumans were very hard to find.

For another, while Contract Sequence contracts did carry a certain supernatural binding force, even if they weren't Wonders, they could at least count as Reserve Wonders.

And each contract was extremely valuable, making them impractical for widespread use.

Elder Hou took the contracts away.

Chen Ye and Chu Che each received ten thousand Silent Gold Coins.

Of course, whether in terms of volume or quantity, ten thousand gold coins wasn't something that could be easily transported.

Elder Hou gave the two men a card instead.

This card was similar to the bank cards from before the apocalypse. They could withdraw gold coins at Silent Council shops, and they could also spend at Silent Council shops.

When Chen Ye received that card, he strained with all his might to keep the corners of his mouth from curling upward.

"Yezi, what are you planning to do with your ten thousand gold coins?"

"Heh heh, don't worry about me. What are you planning to do with yours?"

Before Chu Che could finish speaking, Chen Ye had already transformed into a wisp of green smoke and shot straight toward the Silent Council Shop.

That Wonder's Heart, Chen Ye was dead set on getting it.

His Monster Pickup Truck had already been upgraded to this level. Upgrading it further would consume no small amount of Slaughter Points.

Being able to use the Wonder's Heart for one upgrade was definitely a worthwhile deal.

As for repaying the money...

Of course, he had to repay it!!

That was just a problem for three months later.